The world is in mourning as one of the greatest musicians of all time has died, aged just 50 years old. Here, we remember Michael Jackson and his role as the King Of Pop and the rather eccentric Wacko Jacko.
From an early age, Michael showed an incredible musical talent, and as the seventh child of the Jackson family, he first stepped onto the music scene at the tender age of 11 as one fifth of the Jackson Five… little did he know that fifteen years later he would be on the road to becoming one of the worlds biggest selling musicians.
Michal and Marlon joined their brothers in the Jackson 5 in 1964, along with Jackie, Tito and Jermaine, originally as backup musicians with Michael taking to the conga‘s however, it wasn’t long until he unleashed his vocal chords on the world by performing backup vocals and of course, pulling some killer moves as a backing dancer.
The band set a chart record when their first four singles "I Want You Back", "ABC", "The Love You Save" and "I'll Be There" all peaked at number one on the Billboard Hot 100, but at the same time, Michael was keen to show just how capable he was as a solo musician, and from 1972, he released a total of four solo studio albums with the bands record label, with Got to Be There and Ben amongst them.
The band moved to CBS Records in June 1975, and they released six more albums in the years that followed, and Michael Jackson really became to come into his own as he penned hits such as “Shake Your Body (Down to the Ground)", "This Place Hotel" and "Can You Feel It".
When Michael was playing the Scarecrow in the film musical The Wiz, he met musical legend, Quincy Jones, who formed a partnership with Jackson during the film's production and agreed to produce the singer's next solo album Off the Wall, which was released in 1979.
This was the first album from Michael which generated four top 10’s, including “Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough" and "Rock with You”, whilst the album itself reached number three on the Billboard 200 and has since been certified for 7 million shipments in the US and eventually sold over 20 million copies worldwide.
Thriller & Bad
Michael’s second album, Thriller, was released in 1982 and it was charted in the top 10 of the Billboard 200 for 80 consecutive weeks and 37 of those weeks at the peak position. This was the point when people started to sit up and take notice of this incredible singer.
The album reaped seven Billboard Hot 100 top 10 singles, and the singles, "Billie Jean", "Beat It" and "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'" were all in the charts at the same time. Thriller sold upwards of 109 million copies, making it the best-selling album of all time. With Thriller came Michael’s musical trademark dance move, The Moonwalk, which had it’s debut on March 25, 1983, live on the Motown 25: Yesterday, Today, Forever television special.
Negative Media
With the colossal rise in fame came the obvious tabloid coverage on the singer, and in 1986, the tabloid press ran a story claiming that Jackson slept in a hyperbaric oxygen chamber to slow the aging process; he was pictured lying down in a glass box.
Even more bizarrely, Jackson bought and befriended a pet chimpanzee called Bubbles, which only added to the critics outrageous view of the singer, granted, he was an incredible recording artist, but his behaviour was getting more and more eccentric. Later it was reported that Jackson bought the bones of The Elephant Man and in turn, the papers gave Michael the nickname "Wacko Jacko", which Jackson acquired the following year, although he eventually came to despise the tag over time.
What’s more, during the 1980’s, Michael’s skin began to change colour, obviously creating a media storm with rumours flying around that he was bleaching his skin, although, in the mid-1980s, Jackson was diagnosed with vitiligo and lupus; the latter was in remission in Jackson's case, and both illnesses made him sensitive to sunlight and the treatments used only continued to lighten his skin tone… leaving this former black man, now a white person.
However, the structure of his face begun to change too, and over time, several surgeons have speculated that Jackson had undergone multiple nasal surgeries, a forehead lift, thinned lips and a cheekbone surgery, although many people speculated that a lot of these changes were due to Michael contracting anorexia nervosa.
Keen to prove his worth as a musician however, Michael hit back with his first solo album in five years, Bad, in 1987, and although it had lower sales than Thriller per se, it was still a huge success, spawning hits such as, "I Just Can't Stop Loving You", "Bad", "The Way You Make Me Feel", "Man in the Mirror" and "Dirty Diana" which all took the number one spot.
The following year, he bought land near Santa Ynez, California to build his famous Neverland Ranch at a cost of $17 million and housed Ferris wheels, a menagerie, and a movie theatre, as well as 40 security guards patrolling the grounds
In 1991, it was time for Jacko to release another album, thing time it was Dangerous which graced the shelves, and as of last year, the album shifted 7 million copies in the US and 32 million copies worldwide. The album‘s first single, "Black or White" was the album's biggest hit, whist the second release "Remember the Time" spent eight weeks in the top five in the US, however, across most of the world, it was the single, “Heal the World" was the biggest hit from the album.
Heal The World
There’s no denying that Michael was big on charity, and in 1992 he founded the "Heal the World Foundation" which let underprivileged children to Jackson's ranch, to go on theme park rides that Jackson had built on the property after he purchased it. The foundation also sent millions of dollars around the globe to help children threatened by war and disease.
What’s more, all the profits from the Dangerous World Tour which began on June 27, 1992, went to the "Heal the World Foundation", raising millions of dollars in relief. He sold the broadcast rights to his Dangerous world tour to HBO for $20 million, a record-breaking deal that still stands. Following the illness and death of Ryan White, Jackson helped draw public attention to HIV/AIDS, something that was still controversial at the time. He publicly pleaded with the Clinton Administration at Bill Clinton's Inaugural Gala to give more money to HIV/AIDS charities and research.
However, we must address the fact that as a child, Michael was abused by his father, and in a very emotional interview with Oprah Winfrey in February 1993, his first television interview since 1979, Michal openly spoke about all the media rumours surrounding him.
However, Michael was soon in the media sights again after he was accused sexual abuse by a 13-year-old child named Jordan Chandler and his father Evan Chandler. Although Michael and Jordan were thought to have been friends, there a rumours that the child lied about the allegations, and he was recorded as saying; "If I go through with this, I win big-time. There's no way I lose. I will get everything I want and they will be destroyed forever...Michael's career will be over".
Little did Jordan know how supporting Michael’s fans were, and whilst multiple children and family members denied that he was a paedophile, yet, even so, Jackson began taking painkillers, Valium, Xanax and Ativan to deal with the stress of the allegations made against him and by late 1993, Jackson was addicted to the drugs.
Marriage, Children and Love Life.
In 1993, Jackson married singer-songwriter Lisa Marie Presley, the daughter of Elvis Presley, and although they had been friends for a long time, it was as the child molestation charges came public, Michael became dependent on Lisa Marie for emotional support. They married later that year, but it only lasted for two years.
In 1995, as he was promoting his latest album, HIStory, Jackson married dermatologist nurse Deborah Jeanne Rowe, with whom he fathered a son, Michael Joseph Jackson, Jr. (also known as "Prince"), and a daughter, Paris Michael Katherine Jackson. However, he divorced Rowe in 1999, with his ex-wife giving him full custody rights of the children.
Michael Jackson’s third child, Prince Michael Jackson II, or Blanket (don’t ask me why) was born in 2002, and the identity of the mother has not been revealed, and the general consensus is that he was born through artificial insemination from a surrogate mother and his own sperm cells. Michael famously brought his new born son onto the balcony of his hotel room in Berlin, and briefly held the baby over the railing of the balcony, four stories above ground level.
The Later Years
To celebrate Jackson's 50th birthday, Sony BMG released a compilation album called King of Pop and included tracks from Jackson's group and solo career, which were all chosen by fans, who were asked to choose their favourite songs… each national release had a different track listing, related to how fans in that particular country had voted.
It was around this time that Michael’s financial troubles began to come to light, as a foreclosure sale of Neverland Ranch was ordered to pay back a loan Jackson owed on the property. In November, he transferred the title of Neverland Ranch to Sycamore Valley Ranch Company LLC. He also held and online auction of famous memorabilia such as one of his white gloves and the gates to the ranch in the hope of raising money.
What’s more, Michael was due to play a 50 date, sold out residency at London’s O2 Arena, which he claimed would be his final ‘curtain call.’ These live shows would have earnt him £5 million per night, and would have hopefully resolved his financial worries. These dates were thought to be his last live performances, and would see Michael go out the way he would have wanted, it seems so cruel that he was robbed of these final shows.
Death
In the morning of June 25, 2009, Jackson collapsed at a rented home in Holmby Hills, Los Angeles. After he collapsed, Jackson's personal physician, who was with him at the time, attempted to resuscitate him and LA Fire Department paramedics responded to a 911 call at 12:21 pm (PST) and arrived nine minutes later.
Jackson was reportedly not breathing and CPR was quickly performed and continued both en route to the UCLA Medical Center, and after arrival at approximately 1:14 pm (20:14 UTC), for a further hour. He fell into a coma and died shortly after arrival.
The cause of death is as yet unknown, but he was noted to be already in cardiac arrest by the paramedics who attended him. Jackson was pronounced dead at about 2:26 pm local time (21:26 UTC).
Please feel free to leave your tributes below, Music will never be the same without Michael Jackson.
FemaleFirst - Ruth Harrison
The world is in mourning as one of the greatest musicians of all time has died, aged just 50 years old. Here, we remember Michael Jackson and his role as the King Of Pop and the rather eccentric Wacko Jacko.
From an early age, Michael showed an incredible musical talent, and as the seventh child of the Jackson family, he first stepped onto the music scene at the tender age of 11 as one fifth of the Jackson Five… little did he know that fifteen years later he would be on the road to becoming one of the worlds biggest selling musicians.
Michal and Marlon joined their brothers in the Jackson 5 in 1964, along with Jackie, Tito and Jermaine, originally as backup musicians with Michael taking to the conga‘s however, it wasn’t long until he unleashed his vocal chords on the world by performing backup vocals and of course, pulling some killer moves as a backing dancer.
The band set a chart record when their first four singles "I Want You Back", "ABC", "The Love You Save" and "I'll Be There" all peaked at number one on the Billboard Hot 100, but at the same time, Michael was keen to show just how capable he was as a solo musician, and from 1972, he released a total of four solo studio albums with the bands record label, with Got to Be There and Ben amongst them.
The band moved to CBS Records in June 1975, and they released six more albums in the years that followed, and Michael Jackson really became to come into his own as he penned hits such as “Shake Your Body (Down to the Ground)", "This Place Hotel" and "Can You Feel It".
When Michael was playing the Scarecrow in the film musical The Wiz, he met musical legend, Quincy Jones, who formed a partnership with Jackson during the film's production and agreed to produce the singer's next solo album Off the Wall, which was released in 1979.
This was the first album from Michael which generated four top 10’s, including “Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough" and "Rock with You”, whilst the album itself reached number three on the Billboard 200 and has since been certified for 7 million shipments in the US and eventually sold over 20 million copies worldwide.
Thriller & Bad
Michael’s second album, Thriller, was released in 1982 and it was charted in the top 10 of the Billboard 200 for 80 consecutive weeks and 37 of those weeks at the peak position. This was the point when people started to sit up and take notice of this incredible singer.
The album reaped seven Billboard Hot 100 top 10 singles, and the singles, "Billie Jean", "Beat It" and "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'" were all in the charts at the same time. Thriller sold upwards of 109 million copies, making it the best-selling album of all time. With Thriller came Michael’s musical trademark dance move, The Moonwalk, which had it’s debut on March 25, 1983, live on the Motown 25: Yesterday, Today, Forever television special.
Negative Media
With the colossal rise in fame came the obvious tabloid coverage on the singer, and in 1986, the tabloid press ran a story claiming that Jackson slept in a hyperbaric oxygen chamber to slow the aging process; he was pictured lying down in a glass box.
Even more bizarrely, Jackson bought and befriended a pet chimpanzee called Bubbles, which only added to the critics outrageous view of the singer, granted, he was an incredible recording artist, but his behaviour was getting more and more eccentric. Later it was reported that Jackson bought the bones of The Elephant Man and in turn, the papers gave Michael the nickname "Wacko Jacko", which Jackson acquired the following year, although he eventually came to despise the tag over time.
What’s more, during the 1980’s, Michael’s skin began to change colour, obviously creating a media storm with rumours flying around that he was bleaching his skin, although, in the mid-1980s, Jackson was diagnosed with vitiligo and lupus; the latter was in remission in Jackson's case, and both illnesses made him sensitive to sunlight and the treatments used only continued to lighten his skin tone… leaving this former black man, now a white person.
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